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– Historically, the textile has always been close to the human being, says Nils-Krister Persson, associate professor in Smart Textiles at the University of Borås.
Prototypes in the project.
The clothes have been developed in different generations. It started with a red dress, which became a black dress, a green vest and they are now in the fourth generation: a black vest with a checkerboard chess game where each box can emit vibrations.
– We move on to the next step and make the textile a communication tool, it is something new. And technically, we have come a long way in the project.
Haptic communication means that a person interprets his environment with deafblindness by touching the back and other parts of the body. Halfway through the European project "SUITCEYES", researchers have developed several prototypes of clothing capable of simulating these movements.
The garment interprets the surroundings
The University of Borås is responsible for textile innovations and semantic interpretations of the environment. Greek researchers are working on an interface capable of recognizing objects and faces in the environment. And in Leeds, England, scientists are also working with sensors to detect obstacles in the environment and translate them into vibrations and other haptic signs.
– We are currently working on the integration of all these parts so that the camera and the computer recognize what is happening in the room and sends the information to a knowledge base, which quickly translates them in haptic signals, that the wearer feels on the back through the actuators, which is in the garment, he explains.
Soon, the latest generation of prototypes will be produced in greater numbers, so that functions can begin to be scientifically tested.
– Of course, there are still many challenges to overcome: costs, behavioral changes and purely practical problems. But we are very satisfied with our success, "said Nils-Krister Persson.
On August 22, the project will organize a conference in Borås, open to all, where the project with the garment is presented.
Contact:
Nasrine Olson, project coordinator, [email protected]
Nils-Krister Persson, associate professor at Smart Textiles, [email protected]
SUITCEYES is synonymous with Smart, friendly, interactive, tactical, enhancing cognition that produces an extended sense. It is a project of the EU led by the University of Borås. The name indicates that a comprehensive toolbox of instruments aimed at improving communication with deaf and blind people is being developed in the project.
The parties to the project are responsible for different work packages within the project:
– The University of Borås is a project coordinator and takes full responsibility, through Library and Information Science and Smart Textiles, for the development of haptic communication and intelligent interface using smart textiles.
– The Research and Technology Center of Greece, CERTH (Greece), is responsible for facial recognition and objects, data entry, translation and semantics. – Hochschule Offenburg, Germany, is responsible for games and social interactions.
– University of Leeds, UK, responsible for electronics, user needs and user inclusion, as well as studies on user needs, social inclusion and perception from the environment.
– Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands, is responsible for haptic psychophysics and prototype testing.
– Read Doctts Qui Rêvent, France, a book publisher in direct contact with potential end-users. The publisher participates in the dissemination of results and other outreach activities.
– Harpo, in Poland, a humanitarian aid company is responsible for disseminating the results.
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